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Friday, May 4, 2012

Join the #EdReform Conversation with These Twitter Hashtags

Politics and education frequently walk hand-in-hand on the beach at sunset when they aren’t arguing with one another over pretty much everything. And for good reason: the school system, on local, state, and federal levels, needs some serious reworking if it genuinely wishes to offer equal opportunities to all American kids and adults. With so much information pushing and shoving against each other, hopping on Twitter helps streamline the research process by spitting it all out in 140-character-or-less chunks. Pay some of these hashtags a visit for a quicksilver glimpse at the super serious issues pockmarking the education sector these days.

#edreformtribe: Our own Dr. Justin Marquis keeps up this hashtag bringing together individuals and education professionals interested in policy making and changing.#edreform: A frequently updated discussion about education reform, featuring a nice spectrum of ideas, insights, and opinions.#parentpower: Twitter-savvy moms and dads can use this ongoing chat to connect with schools, teachers, policymakers, and other parents who realize the integral role the eponymous demographic plays in education politics.#edpolicy: #edpolicy is, rather obviously, dedicated to furthering the discussion of current education politics and what needs changing to ensure the best possible environments for kid and adult students alike.#dropouts: Despite not boasting as many postings or as active a discussion as some of the others listed here, this hashtag offers a quick glimpse at a serious issue in American schools.#schoolchoice: The School Choice movement’s main thrust promotes a wealth of education opportunities for students of varying needs and wants.#putkidsfirst: Used primarily in Louisiana, #putkidsfirst is still a national discussion about budgets, vouchers, and other hot education topics.#parentalchoice: #parentalchoice often makes appearances alongside #schoolchoice and engages parents in the education policy-making process, because they hold far more sway than they often realize.#achievementgap: Follow this hashtag to learn more about the achievement gap and what activists across the education profession (including parents) have to say about closing it and establishing more opportunities for students caught in the middle.#edgap: Like #achievementgap, #edgap is all about promoting equal opportunities in education, particularly along class, race, gender, and ability lines.#literacy: While not exclusively about education reform, this hashtag does discuss a serious issue around which many policies revolve — literacy, and how to promote it and up the rate.#blackedu: #blackedu emphasizes in-class strategies and out-of-class policies both negatively and positively impacting black students, with some excellent insight provided by a nice range of participants.#latinoedu: Parents, policymakers, and of course education professionals might want to give this Twitter talk a follow when wanting to learn more about providing opportunities for Latino students.#nativeedu: The National Indian Education Association primarily uses the quite new #nativeedu to raise awareness of the good and bad policies directly affecting Native American students.#teacherquality: Because teachers stand at the forefront of education, drawing up policies to ensure the best possible output greatly benefits students.#eddata: Get to number crunching with #eddata and its long-running exchange of statistics relevant to the education industry; compelling research is essential to drawing up the most effective, valuable reformations possible.#urbaned: The #urbaned concerns itself with drawing up policies to improve education problems unique to urban and inner-city schools.#edleadership: Participate or lurk in this ongoing chit-chat about leadership in education, which kind of has everything to do with reforming it in the best interest of enrollees.#eduleaders: Like #edleadership, with which it usually pops up alongside, #eduleaders explores the role between professionals and policymakers in shaping the learning sphere.#edadmin: This hashtag talks all things administration, which frequently includes articles and exchanges regarding reform and policies.#schooldistricts: Check out what school districts across America are experimenting with and implementing to address their unique and not-so-unique problems.#nclb: No Child Left Behind altered the face of American education policy, and Twitter users gather here to share their experiences, opinions, research, and other resources urging its alteration or elimination.#esea: As with NCLB (and, by extension, #nclb), the Elementary and Secondary Education Act inspires heated debates online and off, and this particular talk stands as its Twitterly home.#teachered: Teachers learn as much as their students — if not more — and an openness to trying new policies to sharpen their skills is integral to improving education on the whole.#schoolreform: Another active, ongoing discussion about changing education at different levels to provide the best possible learning experiences.#occupyeducation: It started on Wall Street, moved across the United States, went international, and now the Occupy movement wants education reform devoted to equality and diversity — not to mention fair tuition and admissions policies.#collegeaffordability: Seeing as how paying for a college education remains one of the foremost issues citizens want reformed, following this hashtag provides a quick overview of the motion’s progress, if any.#edpolitics: Politics and education merge in a fireball of … well… just go give it a read; #edpolitics informs and no doubt nurtures some interesting conversations and debates.